What’s in a name?

This is one of those times when I wish I could do away with the need for privacy, and just tell you C’s name. It’s a really cool name, a very different one, one that nearly everyone that hears it has never heard it before and will likely never hear it again. It’s a word that has to do with birds of prey. Husband and I picked it because we were looking for a name that had something to do with the outside world, the environment, nature. The name just fit.

Less then 2 days after C was born, the ventilator he was on caused him to blow a hole in one lung, and a nurse rushed into our room asking permission to perform surgery to put in a chest tube. She was in a panic, and without batting an eye or even asking a question, we agreed. She ran out of the room, and we sat, numb with grief. There were so many tense moments, moments where I look back on them and wonder if I really realized how close he was to death, and I’m thankful I didn’t fully realize.

The next day, when C wasn’t improving, the docs told us they wanted to evacuate him to a hospital where they could handle his issues better. The evacuation would involve a 30 minute ambulance ride to a rural airport, then a flight over the Rocky Mountains in a lear jet/air ambulance, followed by either another ambulance ride or a helicopter flight to the hospital in Denver. I remember looking out the window; we lived in a remote Colorado ski town, and I wondered how they could possibly make the trip safely because we were in the middle of a heck of a snowstorm.

While we waited for the weather to clear enough for the plane to make it through, the nurse sent Husband home at 2 a.m. to pack his bags. He would go on the plane with C, and I would follow in a couple of days when I could once again move (I didn’t exactly hop out of bed after the c-section – I’m not sure I hopped anywhere for the next year). As Husband drove home, on a dark, snowy, isolated dirt road, he spotted a bird of prey flying in front of his car for a few moments before it took off toward the river. He took it as a good sign, a sign that C would survive all he had yet to go through. What’s in a name, you ask? Everything.

That was a lovely/scary story. I’m so glad C came through. How frightening for you guys. Can’t you just give a hint about the name? It’s not “Crow”, is it? Or “Caw”? K’s real name is “Koo Koo”. Don’t tell anyone.